Late in Jedd Fisch’s first spring as Washington’s head coach, he met with Huskies transfer quarterback Will Rogers to break down film. Watching Fisch’s former team, Arizona, take on USC the year before was an exercise to help Rogers get a window into his new coach’s thought process. When you’ve spent more than a decade coaching in the NFL for seven franchises and worked for the likes of Steve Spurrier, Pete Carroll, Jim Harbaugh and Bill Belichick, everything, it seems, is an evaluation — and you’re never going to sugar-coat what jumps out in a film session.
A half-hour in, Fisch called out something on a short-yardage situation. But when he started talking about running back Jonah Coleman, his tone changed, including more than a hint of awe: “Jonah has great vision,” Fisch said, as the back powered through two Trojans defenders. “See how square his shoulders get, and see how low he gets? It’s almost impossible to stop him on third-and-2, third-and-1.”
This season, Coleman is averaging 6.8 yards per carry, leads the Football Bowl Subdivision with nine rushing touchdowns and ranks second in the FBS with 174.3 all-purpose yards per game. Earlier this week, the education major with a 3.93 GPA was named a semifinalist for the Campbell Trophy, college football’s academic Heisman. He has proven to be a critical building block in Fisch’s overhaul of the Huskies program.
The bond between Fisch and the first Arizona player who entered the transfer portal to follow him to Washington is a fascinating one. Two people from very different backgrounds have proven to be a perfect match in Tucson and now Seattle.
Coleman, a three-star recruit, committed to Arizona less than three months after Fisch was hired to take over a program riding a 12-game losing streak, then stayed committed even though the Wildcats won just one game in Fisch’s debut season. His 2022 class, ranked No. 25 in the nation by 247Sports at the time, yielded the nucleus of Arizona’s 2023 team that went 10-3 and finished No. 11: receiver Tetairoa McMillan, offensive lineman Jonah Savaiinaea, quarterback Noah Fifita, cornerback Tacario Davis, safety Ephesians Prysock and linebacker Jacob Manu.
“That class of 2022 is one which I’m not sure it’s ever able to be replicated,” Fisch said. “The program was coming off (a 1-23 run), and we had to convince all these good players that you should come play for us. So that human investment was so great to try to get people to just open up and be honest, and we built real pure relationships.”
To Coleman, Fisch seemed different from a lot of the other coaches who had recruited him.
“I’m pretty good at picking up energy and see if people have genuine intentions, and he’s someone that didn’t flag at all,” Coleman said. “Everything was real and authentic since the day I met him, since the first conversation we had.” But Coleman said developing that trust just doesn’t happen overnight. He describes it as a symbiotic relationship.
“We think alike. We went through a lot. Not everything has been like perfect in peaches and rainbows, but those hardships definitely brought us closer.”
Those “hardships” include the day Coleman, like the rest of his Arizona teammates, found out via social media that Fisch was leaving for Washington, taking the job that came open after Alabama tabbed Kalen DeBoer, fresh off leading the Huskies to the national title game, to replace Nick Saban. Fisch told The Athletic that he was mindful not to tell one player at Arizona until he told every player, which upset some of his star players. Coleman was confused and hurt.
“It was definitely a shocker because we built something great at Arizona, with a culture and foundation that could be hard to build again,” Coleman said. But, he added, “I trusted what he had in store.”
Soon after Coleman jumped into the portal to follow his coach, Prysock joined him. Davis and Manu came to Washington a year later.
Fisch inherited a program that had to replace 20 of the 22 starters that played for a national championship against Michigan. His new team desperately needed leaders in the locker room, and Fisch could think of no one better than Coleman.
“I think Jonah has really jumped when we got to Washington,” Fisch said. “He’s thrived academically. He’s thrived in being a known commodity in Seattle. His maturity level has completely flipped. We had him talk to the Board of Regents about the importance of athletics. I don’t think I would have guessed that four years ago.”
Fisch and Coleman grew up on opposite sides of the country — and the economic spectrum. The head coach grew up in Livingston, N.J., one of the most affluent towns in the state; the running back hails from Stockton, Calif.
“Not many people know how hard it is to make it out,” Coleman said of his hometown, which he honors with a tattoo of its 209 area code. “I feel like it’s a big accomplishment to even just be in college, coming from Stockton and growing up how I did.
“A lot of people don’t make it out of Stockton because of gangs and the violence, and grades, too. There’s a lot that falls in line. Just need to give people hope and belief that they can do it. I feel like that’s what I’m doing at the moment. I have a great dad, great parents that kept me on the right track. I have nine siblings, some older brothers that didn’t choose the right path, but they made sure that I stayed out of it. I thank them.”
Fisch didn’t play football growing up — he instead excelled at tennis — and broke into the coaching ranks as a student assistant to Spurrier at Florida. Fisch said he left notes on the windshield of Spurrier’s Buick in the stadium parking lot, offering to volunteer on his staff, for roughly 400 days.
Fisch has always had a knack for connecting with people. His list of coaching mentors would rival anyone’s in football. At Florida, he once roomed with Howie Roseman, now the Eagles GM.
Coleman said Fisch’s wife Amber and three daughters have become like a second family. In turn, Fisch says Coleman has become like an older brother to his daughters.
“He was always so polite to Amber and the girls that the girls kind of fell for Jonah early with just his way of going about things,” Fisch said. “I don’t think there’s ever been a birthday, a Mother’s Day, a holiday, that he hasn’t reached out to directly to the girls and Amber. He’s just a such a warm kid with an edge. There’s such a genuineness to him. It’s really cool.”
“She would really do anything for us and be there for anything we need,” Coleman said. “That’s just something that I love about her. It’s her energy and passion just to see us happy and see us smile. She’s a coach’s wife, so we know she makes sacrifices, too. We appreciate everything she does for us.”
The star running back also routinely comes into Fisch’s office to say good morning, greeting him with a hug.
Coleman is grateful for his support system and the way things have worked out in his college career.
“The primary goal was to get that degree,” he said. “It’s something that really means a lot to me just because, I’m first generation in my family to get that degree.”
Coleman plans to work with kids after his football career is over. But Fisch expects the 5-9, 220-pound senior to have a great career in the NFL first.
“They’ll love him,” Fisch said of the NFL. “I think he’ll be taken in the second or third round. He’s smart, he knows football, inside and out. He loves it and talks pass protection, and wherever he goes, I think he’s gonna do great.”
(Photo: Alika Jenner / Getty Images)
